Stephen Fry, Eddie Izzard, Kevin Spacey and Sarah Brown have also been asked to write 64-word messages of support for the political figure, which will be delivered on her 64th birthday on June 19.

Clooney, Beckham and James Bond actor Daniel Craig have signed a message from campaign group Not on Our Watch.

It says: “Nineteen years ago, the Burmese people chose Aung San Suu Kyi as their next leader. For most of those 19 years she has been kept under house arrest by the military junta that runs the country. We must not stand by as she is silenced again. Now is the time for the international community to speak with one voice: Free Aung San Suu Kyi.”

Supporters of the campaign can upload video, text or pictures, or twitter messages of support on the site.

The leader has been held under house arrest for 13 of the past 19 years, and currently stands accused of breaking the terms of her confinement.

The launch of the website 64forSuu.org is timed to coincide with the date her imprisonment should have stopped.

Source

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Count Matt Damon among the celebs whose worldview doesn’t start and end in Hollywood.

On Tuesday, the Bourne Ultimatum star took time off from filming to visit with Zimbabwean refugees in the South African border town of Musina, part of a humanitarian mission on behalf of Not on Our Watch, the nonprofit advocacy group he started along with George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Don Cheadle.

Damon is in South Africa shooting The Human Factor, Clint Eastwood’s upcoming film about Nelson Mandela. Morgan Freeman plays the apartheid-fighting nation builder.

Close to 3 million people have fled Zimbabwe, where a crumbling infrastructure, economy-crippling inflation and political corruption have led to widespread poverty, hunger and disease. A recent cholera epidemic has killed more than 3,800 people and infected some 83,000, according to the United Nations News Centre.

Damon’s pal Clooney recently returned to the U.S. from a trip to Sudan-bordering Chad, where he bunked with New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof and toured the area, which has become a haven for Africans fleeing the genocide in war-torn Darfur.

Source

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In communities scarred by conflict, and faced with dire threats to livelihoods based on agriculture and herding, people desperately need interventions like small-scale irrigation systems or village savings groups. Community-based health care, especially for pregnant women, is another crucial need in villages frequently cut off by violence or harsh environmental conditions.

CARE helps communities in need of assistance find common ground by working together across ethnic divisions, forming Village Development Committees that represent all groups, with a special emphasis on including women and marginalized people. CARE works in close cooperation with local governments, civic groups, and peace committees, making access to aid contingent on cooperation between ethnic groups.

“As the conflict in Darfur continues, victims of violence remain desperately in need of basic support systems. Now more than ever it is critical that the international community remain committed to these victims and work towards putting an end to this crisis,” said Not On Our Watch co-founder Matt Damon.

The grant from Not on Our Watch will enable CARE, one of the largest humanitarian agencies operating in Darfur, to extend peace-building work in South and West Darfur to about 55,000 people, building on an existing project that reaches some 90,000 people.

“Not on Our Watch shares our goal of creating a culture of tolerance and non-violence in Darfur,” said Dr. Helene Gayle, CARE President and CEO. “We’re extremely grateful for this gift, which brings a measure of hope to people living in the shadow of despair.”

Source

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“As the conflict in Darfur continues, victims of violence remain desperately in need of basic support services,” says Matt Damon.

“The International Rescue Committee has been a lifeline to the people of Darfur for five years and we are proud to once again support their vital work,” said Not On Our Watch executive director Alex Wagner.

Not On Our Watch donated $2.75 million to the International Rescue Committee’s health, water supply and education programs in the Darfur region last year. In 2006, George Clooney visited IRC aid programs in Chad and Sudan, launching a partnership that continues through Not On Our Watch.

“We are grateful to Not On Our Watch for putting a spotlight on humanitarian crises and generating significant resources to assist some of the world’s most vulnerable people,” says George Rupp, president of the International Rescue Committee. “This donation will help IRC aid workers in Darfur to expand essential health care programs for some 200,000 people, including sick and malnourished children who too often succumb to preventable and treatable diseases.”

Press Release

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Here’s a translation provided by Lilalucy on the CNCU forum.

The relief organization acting world-wide “A heart for children” celebrates its 30th anniversary this year.

George Clooney is the star guest 2008: The 47 year old OSCAR winner (” Syriana”), who works successfully as actor, director and a producer, is joint founder of “NOT ON OUR WATCH” – Relief organization in the USA.
With this commitment it proves its continuous and lasting employment for children and families in crisis zones.
Clooney will present “The Golden Heart” to in the “AMEL Center” in Sudan, which offers locally medical and legal assistance for force and torture victims.

George Clooney: ” The ‘AMEL Center’ gives crucial assistance for force victims in Darfur. The determined and courageous work of the Sudanese physicians and lawyers earns international attention – and I am proud to be allowed to make attentive thus on it! ”

In January 2008 the Hollywood star as well as representatives of the United Nations flew again to Darfur. After its return he was appointed of the UN the peace Ambassador.

Credit and Thanks to Lilalucy!

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Pictures:

Added more from the days events

Gallery Link:

65th Annual Venice Film Festival (Red Carpet) Aug 27th
65th Annual Venice Film Festival (Photo Call Arrival)
65th Annual Venice Film Festival (Ceremony) Aug 27th
65th Annual Venice Film Festival (NOOW Charity Gala) Aug 26th

George took time out from the festivities to visit with long-time friend Mariella Frostrup yesterday.

Gallery Link: 65th Annual Venice Film Festival (Candids) Aug 27

Source: LINK

George and friend Manuele Malenotti pictured here leaving after the Premiere.

Gallery Link: 65th Annual Venice Film Festival (Departure) Aug 28

Videos:

Videos added of Brad’s award moment where he was asked to give George a flower and raw footage from the Redcarpet.

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Gallery LINK: 65th Annual Venice Film Festival (NOOW Charity Gala) Aug 26th

Clooney, Pitt arrive in Venice for film festival

By COLLEEN BARRY
Associated Press Writer

VENICE, Italy (AP) _ George Clooney hosted a charity event Tuesday night to raise money for victims in Darfur.

Clooney, who’s in Venice for the premiere Wednesday at the Venice Film Festival of the Coen brothers’ film “Burn After Reading,” swept past reporters as he arrived for the fundraiser for his Not On Our Watch charity.

The event was expected to raise $2 million, said Manuele Malenotti, the executive director of the Italian clothing company Belstaff, which sponsored the event.

Not On Our Watch has raised more than $7 million to help victims both of the humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan and the cyclone in Myanmar, according to executive director Alex Wagner.

The charity, which was started last year by Clooney, Brad Pitt and some of their “Ocean’s Thirteen” colleagues, uses their celebrity appeal to bring attention to human rights abuses, but it isn’t so easy to get even two of the founders together because of filming and family demands, Wagner conceded.

Pitt, who arrived in Venice earlier with sons Maddox and Pax, was expected at the event, but hadn’t arrived by the time cocktail hour was over. He also appear in the Coen brothers’ film.

“Scheduling is very difficult. Two of them happened to be in Venice at the same time because of the ‘Burn After Reading’ premiere … so there was a brainstorming session,” Wagner said of the planned joint appearance.

Inside, Clooney was discussing the issues and where the charity puts its money at the fundraising dinner on Venice’s Giudecca island, where 200 industry insiders and Italian VIPs were slated to attend, Wagner said.

One recent grant by the group was $500,000 in March to keep helicopters and airplanes flying aid into Darfur region of Sudan — topping off a $1 million donation a year earlier for the same program.

“We sent out a press release one day saying we were on the verge of closing it down and the next day we had $500,000,” said Bettina Luescher, a spokeswoman for the World Food Program at U.N. headquarters in New York. “They shine the light on the real emergencies and step up where we really need help.”

Without that money, Luescher said, the World Food Program had been on the verge of shutting down the air service to Darfur, which brings 3,000 aid workers a month to the stricken region. The U.N. food charity fed 3.3 million people there last month.

The air service is critical given deteriorating security, which makes road convoys vulnerable. Nearly 100 World Food Program food trucks have been hijacked this year.

Clooney has spoken for several years about the crisis in Darfur, where more than 200,000 people have been killed and about 2.5 million people displaced in three years of fighting between African rebels and government troops allied with Arab militia known as the janjaweed.

He went on a U.N. technical mission including Darfur and neighboring Chad in January, sharing his impressions with reporters upon his return to draw attention to the crisis.

Source: LINK

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The pair will appear together not once, but twice, at the Venice Film Festival — first Tuesday night at a fundraising event for their charity Not On Our Watch. They’ll be back on the red carpet Wednesday when the Coen brothers film “Burn After Reading” opens the 65th edition of the festival, which runs through Sept. 6.

Not On Our Watch has raised more than US$7 million to help victims both of the humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan and the cyclone in Myanmar, also known as Burma, according to executive director Alex Wagner.

The charity, which was launched last year by the stars and some of their “Ocean’s Thirteen” colleagues, uses their celebrity appeal to bring attention to human rights abuses, but it isn’t so easy to get even two of the founders together because of filming and family demands, Wagner conceded.

“Scheduling is very difficult. Two of them happened to be in Venice at the same time because of the ‘Burn after Reading’ premiere … so there was a brainstorming session,” she said.

Clooney will discuss the issues and where the charity puts its money at the fundraising dinner on Venice’s Giudecca island, which will be attended by some 200 industry insiders and Italian VIPs, Wagner said.

Among the group’s donations was a US$500,000 grant in March to keep helicopters and airplanes flying aid into Darfur — topping off a US$1 million donation a year earlier for the same program.

“We sent out a press release one day saying we were on the verge of closing it down and the next day we had US$500,000,” said Bettina Luescher, a spokeswoman for the World Food Program at U.N. headquarters in New York City. “They shine the light on the real emergencies and step up where we really need help.”

Without that money, Luescher said the World Food Program had been on the verge of shutting down the air service to Darfur, which brings 3,000 aid workers a month to the stricken region. The U.N. food charity fed 3.3 million people there last month alone.

The air service is critical given deteriorating security, which makes road convoys vulnerable. Nearly 100 World Food Program food trucks have been hijacked this year alone.

Clooney has spoken for several years about the crisis in Darfur, where more than 200,000 people have been killed and about 2.5 million people displaced in three years of fighting between African rebels and government troops allied with Arab militia known as the janjaweed.

He went on a U.N. technical mission including Darfur and neighboring Chad in January, sharing his impressions with reporters upon his return to draw attention to the crisis.

Source: LINK

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A committed human rights advocate, the United States actor George Clooney was designated as a United Nations Messenger of Peace in January 2008. Using his global appeal and wide ranging talents as an actor, producer, screen writer and director, Mr. Clooney has focused public attention on crucial international political and social issues while diligently working to mobilize political action against the violence in Darfur.

LINKS: George’s UN Page , www.un.org

NOOW

Our mission is to focus global attention and resources towards putting an end to mass atrocities around the world. Drawing on the powerful voices of artists, activists and cultural leaders, Not On Our Watch generates lifesaving humanitarian assistance and protection for the vulnerable, marginalized and displaced. Where governments remain complacent, Not On Our Watch is committed to stopping mass atrocities and giving a voice to their victims.

LINK: http://www.notonourwatchproject.org/

Save Darfur

Around the country and across the globe, the Save Darfur Coalition is inspiring action, raising awareness and speaking truth to power on behalf of the people of Darfur. Working with world leaders, we are demanding an end to the genocide, and our efforts are getting results.

The key to our success is the millions of everyday citizens who have joined our movement. With you and other committed activists by our side, we will end the genocide.

LINK: http://www.savedarfur.org/

International Rescue Committee (IRC)

We are the International Rescue Committee – a critical global network of first responders, humanitarian relief workers, healthcare providers, educators, community leaders, activists, and volunteers. Working together, we provide access to safety, sanctuary, and sustainable change for millions of people whose lives have been shattered by violence and oppression.

LINk: http://www.theirc.org/

United Way

United Way of America is the national organization dedicated to leading the United Way movement. Local United Ways create long-lasting community change by addressing the underlying causes of the most significant local issues. Common focus areas include helping children and youth achieve their potential, promoting financial stability and independence, and improving people’s health. Our goal is to create long-lasting changes by addressing the underlying causes of problems.

LINK: http://www.liveunited.org/index.cfm

Amnesty International

Amnesty International is a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights for all. Our supporters are outraged by human rights abuses but inspired by hope for a better world – so we work to improve human rights through campaigning and international solidarity. We have more than 2.2 million members and subscribers in more than 150 countries and regions and we coordinate this support to act for justice on a wide range of issues.

LINK: http://www.amnesty.org/

ONE Campaign

ONE is Americans of all beliefs and every walk of life – united as ONE – to help make poverty history. We are a campaign of over 2.4 million people and growing from all 50 states and over 100 of America’s most well-known and respected non-profit, advocacy and humanitarian organizations. As ONE, we are raising public awareness about the issues of global poverty, hunger, disease and efforts to fight such problems in the world’s poorest countries. As ONE, we are asking our leaders to do more to fight the emergency of global AIDS and extreme poverty. ONE believes that allocating more of the U.S. budget toward providing basic needs like health, education, clean water and food would transform the futures and hopes of an entire generation in the world’s poorest countries.

LINK: http://www.one.org/

Charities & foundations supported

George Clooney has supported the following charities:

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BELSTAFF is wearing its heart on its sleeve again, announcing a new collaboration with Audi to raise awareness of the crisis in Darfur. Teaming up with charity Not On Our Watch, the two luxury brands will produce a NOOW branded Q7 to raise funds and support lifesaving projects in the troubled Sudanese region.

Earlier this year, Belstaff showed its commitment to international charitable causes by releasing a range of Free Tibet jackets – a cause that has been close to the brand’s heart since meeting the Dalai Lama in 2004.

The ongoing partnership between Belstaff and Not On Our Watch, the charity founded by Oceans Eleven stars George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon, began last year and continues to raise awareness of global humanitarian crises.

Clooney and Pitt will host a fund raising dinner in Venice on August 26, during the city’s Film Festival, with guests from the worlds of entertainment, politics and culture expected to attend and show their support.

Source: LINK

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